Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Technique For The Determination Of Capillary Pressure Curves Using A Constantly Accelerated Centrifuge, Robert N. Hoffman

Masters Theses

"A new technique for determining capillary pressure curves with a centrifuge has been developed and tested. Capillary pressure curves were determined for six cores by this technique and were compared to the curves for the same cores determined by the semi-permeable barrier technique. The technique differs from previously reported centrifuge techniques in that the centrifuge was slowly accelerated from zero to the maximum desired speed, rather than being held constant at particular, progressively higher speeds. An important advantage of this technique over other methods for determining capillary pressure curves is the short time required to obtain the desired amount of …

A Study Of The Dissolution Of Titanium-Oxygen-Nitrogen Alloys In Hydrofluoric Acid, Arliss V. Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

"The purpose of this investigation was to study the effect of oxygen and nitrogen (in the alpha solid solution range) on the kinetics and electrochemistry of titanium dissolution in hydrofluoric acid. Dissolution rates, activation energies, difference effects, and potential measurements were determined with TiO_XN_Y sintered alloys and sheet metal. Values of x ranged from 0.01 to 0.126 and values of x. from 0.001 to 0.230.

Dissolution rates were determined using a gas evolution technique. Temperatures were varied from 5 to 45°C. The hydrogen evolution rates were converted to TiO_XN_Y dissolution rates by means of …

Separation Of Radioactive Fission Products By Electrodialysis Using Aminopolycarboxylic Acids., Harry C. Hershey

Masters Theses

"The development of nuclear fission reactors to convert nuclear energy into electrical energy for use in industry, public utilities, military applications, and space exploration has resulted in ever increasing quantities of radioactive waste solutions. Significant reductions in nuclear fuel costs will be obtained when economical processes have been developed for recovery and purification of valuable fission products which are contained in radioactive waste solutions and are in demand for many research applications.

The United States Atomic Energy Commission has supported exhaustive studies to recover fission products by processes involving the more common unit operations such as extraction, distillation, crystallization, and …

Permeability And Adsorbed Flow Of Carbon Dioxide And Propene Through Porous Silica., Jorgen Lovland

Masters Theses

"It has been known for over a century that gases diffuse through some porous barriers at a rate inversely proportional to the square root of the molecular weight. The difference in diffusion rate can obviously be used to separate gases with different molecular weight. Since other methods for separation like distillation and adsorption usually are simpler and cheaper, separation by gaseous diffusion has found few practical applications. One notable exception is the separation of the gaseous hexafluorides of u²³⁸ and u²³⁵.

Later investigations on the permeation of gases through porous materials have shown that when gases diffuse …

The Removal Of Abs From Tap Water Solutions And Sewage Plant Effluents At Various Air Rates Using Continuous Foam Flotation., Ratan F. Daboo

Masters Theses

"This investigation was performed to study the removal of Alkyl Benzene Sulfonate (ABS) from tap water solutions and sewage treatment plant effluents by continuous foam flotation and to determine the effect of the air flow rate on the removal.

A flotation cell provided with controlled air and liquid flow rates was used for the continuous process. Air flow rates between zero and 29.4 cubic feet per hour were investigated. A liquid feed flow rate of 120 milliliters per minute was used for most of the experiments with one run made at 60 milliliters per minute. The liquid samples were analyzed …

The Performance Of A Mechanically-Aided Countercurrent Extraction Column., Jerry James Carr

Masters Theses

"In recent years liquid extraction has become a major industrial method for the separation of liquid solutions. Liquid extraction has proven successful in some separations performed only with great difficulty by other, more common mass-transfer operations. Th e industrial utilization of liquid extraction has resulted in considerable interest in the design and performance correlations of high-capacity, high-efficiency extraction equipment.

Continuous countercurrent columns, filled with various packings, baffles, and plates, have been found to be relatively ineffective in liquid extract on service. The density difference of the contacted phases is generally insufficient to, by itself, cause the intimate contact necessary for …

Viscosities Of Various Binary Non-Polar Gaseous Mixtures., Gerald Lee Stevenson

Masters Theses

"Viscosity is an important physical property involving the transport of momentum in a fluid. Momentum is transferred within a fluid under an existing velocity gradient as the driving force. Since momentum transfer is actually attained by the dynamic interaction between particles of mass, a description of molecular interaction is essential in order to accurately predict the viscosity of a fluid. Temperature affects fluid viscosity by increasing the kinetic energy of the fluid system and thus the frequency by which molecules are involved in interaction. There have been many theoretical studies made concerning the intermolecular potential energy statements which serve as …

The Construction And Evaluation Of A Small Scale Laboratory Fermentor For Batch And Continuous Studies., Robert Murray Logan

Masters Theses

"The purpose or this investigation was to design and construct a suitable apparatus for the aerobic culture or microorganisms to be used for preliminary batch studies and eventually, continuous fermentations.

The general design of the apparatus was patterned after small scale equipment described in the literature. Construction or the apparatus was carried out in the shop of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. All of the necessary machining was done by the author.

The aeration-agitation system was evaluated by the use or the sulfite oxidation rate determination. The oxygen transfer rate provided by the apparatus was round to be …

Effects Of Gamma Radiation On Ion Exchange Membranes., John R. C. Roop

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Permeability Of Organic Protective Coatings And Relation To Film Thickness, Bipin N. Doshi

Masters Theses

“Special types of coating systems are used to protect industrial products and structures against corrosion. Many millions of dollars are spent each year for these coatings. The ability of protective coatings to reduce or inhibit corrosion depends on a variety of factors such as dry film thickness, resistance to permeation of ions and vapors, temperature, pressure, structure of binder, nature of pigment, electrolytic resistance, and many others.

The initial work done by Larry Inglis on the permeability of coatings and it's relation to thickness of coating films showed that the permeability, as determined by under film corrosion, was independent of …

The Separation Of Strontium-90 From Cesium-137 And Fractionation Of Rare Earth Elements By Liquid-Liquid Extraction., Surendra D. Khanna

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Preparation Of Aryl Sulfones By Sulfonation In The Presence Of Phosphrous Oxychloride, Donald Frederick Kruse

Theses

The use of phosphorus oxychloride as a dehydrating agent in the sulfonation of aromatic compounds has been investigated, particularly with respect to the formation of aryl sulfones. The sulfonation of several aromatic compounds using reagent grade sulfuric acid and phosphorus oxychloride has produced sulfone yields which exceed yields reported in the literature and obtained by more tedious methods. The presence of alkyl side groups on the benzene ring generally favors high yields of sulfone; whereas the presence of halogens generally reduces the yield. Sulfone formation is shown to be dependent upon the reactant ratios and upon the reaction time and …

Zirconium-Hafnium Equilibria, Edwin Otto Eisen

Theses

Equilibria in the thiocyanate-methyl isobutyl ketone process for the separation of zirconium and hafnium were studied. The effects of average thiocyanate concentration, feed acidity, and feed zirconium concentration on the separation factor of hafnium and the distribution coefficients of zirconium and hafnium were investigated. The hafnium separation factor was significantly dependent on the feed acidity but only slightly affected by the average thiocyanate concentration. No conclusion was reached about the effect of the feed zirconium conoentration on the hafnium separation factor. The polymerization of thiocyanic acid was found to be strongly dependent on the average thiocyanate concentration.

The Electrolytic Refining Of Tellurim, Patsy Patrick Napolitano

Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain new and to extend existing information on the method or methods used to produce high purity Tellurium using electrolytic refining methods. All available methods were investigated, in order to substantiate or disprove the available procedures. The main concern of this investigation is the outlined procedure to produce a metallic Tellurium product of 99.9999% purity. Any information which proved to be correct was used in attaining the ultimate goal of this thesis.

A literature search revealed only one good source of information. A United States patent, No. 2,258,963, dated October 14, 1941, issued …

Vapor-Liquid Equilibria System : Carbon Tetra-Chloride, Toluene, N-Heptane, Joel Philip Pearlstein

Theses

A study was made of the vapor-liquid equilibria of the ternary system: carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄), n-Heptane (C₇H₁₆) and Toluene (C₇H₈). An Othmer still was used for the determination of the equilibria and the liquid and vapor compositions were ascertained by refractive index and density measurements. A comparison between experimental values and theoretical values was made using the Margules 3-suffix ternary equations for the correlation. Although the Margules equations did not correlate the experimental data very well, this is most likely due to the fact that the ternary solution was close …

An Evaluation Of Oxide Films Of Lead And Tellurium Prepared By Reactive Sputtering, Frank Groom Peters

Theses

Oxide films of lead, tellurium, and their alloys were deposited by reactive sputtering onto substrates and analyzed by X-ray emission spectrography. The sputtering process involved the bombardment of a metallic cathode with positive ions in an atmosphere containing oxygen. The preparation and analysis of these films are described. The unstrained, homogeneous films have good adherence to the substrate and may be prepared to arbitrary thicknesses. Over a range of lead-tellurium oxide compositions these films are transparent and are glassy, rather than crystalline or amorphous solids.

From the analyses of the films by X-ray emission spectrography and known cathode compositions, it …

Properties Of Non-Newtonian Fluids, George Robert Ferment

Theses

The purpose of this work was to investigate the fluid properties of non-Newtonian solutions.

The effect of temperature on the viscometric properties, flow behavior index (n) and fluid consistency index (K), was investigated. It was established that the flow behavior index was temperature dependent, tending to approach Newtonian behavior as the temperature was raised. The fluid consistency index was also temperature dependent; a plot of K vs temperature will yield a straight line on semilogarithmic coordinates.

The specific heats of non-Newtonian solutions were also determined. For systems containing large mass fractions of water, it was established that the presence of …

The Suspension Of Spherical Glass Beads In Water, David Isert, Andrew G. Zourides

Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine, for the first time, a correlation between mixing and fluidization in a system of spherical glass beads and water.

Mixing data for the spherical glass bead-water system was obtained experimentally and abstracted from previous studies.⁽¹⁾

Fluidization data for the spherical glass beadwater system was obtained from the literature.⁽²⁾

The terminal velocity and the Reynolds Number at terminalization was calculated for the mixing system from the data obtained in this investigation. The terminal velocity and Reynolds Number, as determined experimentally was obtained from the literature,⁽³⁾ A comparison of the terminal …

Modified Coates-Orr Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Still : The Effect Of Pressure On Binary Azeotropes, John K. Jacob

Theses

In order to test the effect of pressure on binary azeotropes, an all stainless steel Coates-Orr vapor-liquid equilibrium still was constructed and then tested at atmospheric and superatmospheric pressure. To overcome operating difficulties at superatmospheric pressures, it was necessary to modify the original still design by (1) coiling a Nichrome resistance wire around the entire still body and insulating heavily over the coil, (2) substituting a "canned" seal-less pump in place of the original centrifugal pump.

A survey of the literature shows that the difficult-to-operate Jones-type equilibrium stills, from which the Coates-Orr still was developed, approach true phase equilibrium. Therefore, …

Heat Conductivity Of Adhesively Bonded Assemblies, Stanley I. Klosowski

Theses

The thermal conductivity of an epoxy compound commonly used as an adhesive, was measured using asimple apparatus specially designed to simulate adhesion, to minimize heat losses, and to simplify measurement and correction for heat losses. Variation of heat conductivity coefficient with glue line thickness and temperature was investigated. The results do not indicate that there is any consistent correlation between the heat conductiv¬ity coefficient and glue line thickness or between heat conductivity coefficient and temperature. However, the small number of samples measured does not permit any definite conclusions to be drawn. The sample with glue line thickness below 0.025 millimeters …

Processibility Factors Of Polyolefins As Determined On The Brabender Plastograph, James Thomas Ryan

Theses

Some knowledge of the behavior of a plastic during processing is required if the materials best properties for a given application are to be retained. For thermoplastic polymers¹ changes in viscosity, a function of molecular weight, can be measured by various laboratory instruments, generally, under specialised conditions. One laboratory instrument, however, called the Brabender Plastograph will, it is claimed by the C. W. Brabender Company, measure the viscosity behavior of plastics under conditions found in production equipment. The Brabender plastograph measures changes in torque, a function of viscosity, which result from chain scission, shear thinning, temperature effect, density change …

The Evaluation Of A Three Mode Temperature Controller By Pulse Techniques, Sanford Allen Schram

Theses

Work was performed to evaluate a commercial three mode temperature controller by pulse techniques. The extensive calculations were performed on an I. B. M. 1620 general purpose computer. Bode diagrams are presented to graphically show the instrument's dynamic response. The conclusions reached are as follows:

1. Pulse tests provide a quick method of testing the dynamic response of instruments.

2. A computer should be used for the efficient calculation of results from pulse tests.

3. Limitations of pulse tests are not yet defined but it appears that an increase in the energy of the input pulse leads to an increase …

A Study Of A Continuous Photochemical Reactor, John Calvin Roe

Theses

The purpose of the investigation was to construct a continuous photochemical reactor, to reinvestigate certain portions of the work of Gaertner and Kent (7) and to extend the work to include some of the more common photochemical reactions.

A reactor of annular design with an elliptical light reflector, similar to that of Gaertner and Kent, was designed and constructed. The sources of radient energy were a cold General Electric T-6 Germicidal Lamp and a hot General Electric UA-9 Lamp.

The photochemical decomposition of oxalic acid sensitized by the uranyl ion was utilized as an actinometer. Fifty continuous runs were accomplished …

Viscosity-Vapor Pressure Correlation Of Alcohols, Methyl Ketones And Alkyl Halides, Kevin Frank

Theses

A linear relationship was found to exist between the logarithms of viscosity and vapor pressure measured at the same temperature for certain homologous series. Previous work by Di Geronimo, healing, and McGuire substantiated this correlation for n-paraflin hydrocarbons, n-paraffin fatty acids and esters, n-alkyl cyclohexanes, n-alkyl benzenes and n-l-monoolefins. The relationship takes the form

logη= A log vp + B

where A and B are constants characteristic of the homologous series.

The adaptation of this linear relationship to alcohols methyl ketones, and alkyl halides in the present work indicates a wide applicability of the correlation. the values of the series …

Extraction Of Technical Grade Lactic Acid With N-Butyl Alcohol, Joel Howard Kaplan

Theses

A possible step in a proposed industrial method for purifying and concentrating technical grade (44 per cent) lactic acid was investigated. The proposed method is the extraction of lactic acid from the crude grade by n-butyl alcohol, esterification of the extract by n-butyl alcohol and hydrolysis of the resultant purified ester to pure lactic acid. The extraction of lactic acid by n-butyl alcohol from the crude grade was the topic considered in this paper.

The extraction process was carried out at temperatures of 10.2°C, 25.0°C, 40.0°C and 60.00C using both U. S. P. lactic acid (85 per cent) and technical …

Vapor-Liquid Equilibria System : Acetone, Ethylene Dichloride, Toluene, Donald Warren Krech

Theses

The vapor-liquid equilibria data have been determined for the ternary system acetone (C₃H₆O), ethylene dichloride (C₂H4Cl₂), and toluene (C₇H₈), using a modified Othmer continuous distillation equilibrium still. The data were correlated to theoretical values using the Margules three-suffix ternary equations.

Although equilibria data are available in the literature for the three binary systems, new data were collected for each system to evaluate the validity of the experimental apparatus and techniques. Consistency of the experimental data was demonstrated.

For the acetone-ethylene dichloride binary system, where similar apparatus was …

The Stability And Response Of An Automatically Controlled Liquid Level System, Milton Kalman Rosen

Theses

Stability and response of automatically controlled liquid level systems was investigated theoretically by transient and frequency response analysis and experimentally on a laboratory liquid level system.

Transfer functions were derived for each component and were used to describe the response of the experimental system. The effect of measurement time constants on system performance was experimentally investigated. Poor control, but not instability, resulted from an increase in measurement time constant. The behavior of the system at various operating loads was determined experimentally. The system was unstable at the maximum measureable flow rate, but stable at all other loads. Theoretical response curves …

Urea Adduction Of Oleic Acid, Leroy A. Dahm

Theses

The purpose of this project was to study the separation of the fatty acids and waxes found in cranberry skins by means of the formation of urea adducts. Current literature does not indicate equilibrium and rate data as controlled by mixing energy for the separation. Therefore this rate data was determined for the adduct formation of oleic acid, one of the constituents of cranberry skins.

A saturated aqueous solution of urea was used in the preparation of the urea adduct of oleic acid. Methyl isobutyl ketone and methanol were investigated as solvents for the fatty acids. Methyl isobutyl ketone was …

The Corrosion Of Zinc-Stainless Steel Couples In Flowing Sea Water, Henry Shaw

Theses

The effect of sea water flow on passivated stainless steel 304 coupled to high purity zinc was studied for more than 1000 hours at 23°C. The corrosion of both members of the couple increased over that of the metals alone. Zinc suffered severe pitting while the Stainless Steel was not visibly corroded, When the metals were exposed alone, zinc corroded uniformly while the stainless steel was not affected at all. The use of zinc coupled to Stainless Steel is not recommended in systems exposed to sea water.

The Effect Of Liquid Surface Tension On Wire Mesh Entrainment Separators, Herbert Franklyn Schroeder

Theses

The effect of liquid surface tension on the capacity of a wire mesh entrainment separator was studied. An air-rater system was used and, the surface tension of the water was reduced through the use of surfactants.

Five test series were run, each with a different surface tension of water. The surface tensions examined covered the range of 30 dynes/cm to 70 dynes/cm. For each test run series, the effect of liquid loading was investigated. Liquid loading rates were varied between 55 and 550 lbs/hr/ft².

Entrainment separator capacity was found to vary linearly with liquid surface tension. As surface tension decreased, …